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😂😂😂 https://t.co/GDGgUYMbtO

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) August 28, 2024

Merab Dvalishvili thinks posting a picture of a cut on his eyelid ahead of a title fight wasn’t that big of a deal.

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Dvalishvili is set to challenge Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title in the main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. “The Machine” recently posted a picture of a cut he suffered in sparring on his right eyelid, much to the ire of Dana White. White went off on Dvalishvili during a press conference, deeming it extremely “dumb” of the Georgian contender to reveal a cut ahead of a title fight. However, Dvalishvili doesn’t regret any of it, which he claims was just routine for him. With over three weeks left before the fight when he suffered the cut, Dvalishvili knew he would be healed up in no time.

“I never regret what I did,” Dvalishvili told MMAjunkie.com. “I post this because I post ev…

Austin Bashi and his all-terrain brilliance did not disappoint.

The undefeated Warrior Way Martial Arts prospect was one of five hopefuls to land an Ultimate Fighting Championship contact during Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series, as he took out Dorian Ramos with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their welterweight showcase on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Ramos (8-3, 0-1 DWCS) capitulated 3:15 into Round 2.

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The 22-year-old Bashi (13-0, 1-0 DWCS) wore down the Apex MMA rep with merciless pace and output. He secured multiple takedowns, paired them with steady ground-and-pound, denied Ramos room to breathe and forced him into a defensive state. Bashi grounded him repeatedly in the second round, broke his considerable resolve and waited for a moment of weakness. He advanced to the back and slipped in the choke when Ramos made the unwise decision to try to stand. Bashi tightened his squeeze, dragged him to the mat and prompted the…

Sherdog's coverage of Dana White's Contender Series Week 4 begins Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Round 1 Jason Herzog gets the first assignment of the night. The lightweights trade leg kicks and Salkilld tests the waters with a head kick. They trade and Young lands hard enough to make Salkilld stumble backward. He seems to be OK though. Salkilld with a solid body kick. Young answers with a front kick. Salkilld digs the body with a left hook and shoots for a takedown shortly thereafter. Young defends nicely and they separate. Salkilld with a hard body kick as he looks to control the range. Another body kick by the Aussie lands. Young pressures and lands a head kick. Salkilld lands a left to the body and follows with a switch kick. Young keeps the pressure on and lands a glancing straight right before Salkilld kicks to the body once again. Salkilld tries an unusual takedown attempt. It doesn’t work initially, but he is able to work his way to the back. Young is able to fight …

A flyweight clash between Brandon Moreno and Amir Albazi will serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night 246 on Nov. 2.

UFC CEO Dana White announced the bout Tuesday on social media. A women’s flyweight tilt pitting Erin Blanchfield against Rose Namajunas, which was originally expected to the the UFC Edmonton headliner, will now be the evening’s co-main event. The card will be held at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

A two-time UFC flyweight champion, Moreno is coming off back-to-back losses against Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval. After falling to Royval via split decision at UFC Fight Night 237 on Feb. 24, the Mexican standout announced that he would be taking some time away from the sport. “The Assassin Baby” owns victories over the likes of Deiveson Figueiredo (twice), Kai Kara-France (twice), Royval and Jussier Formiga during his promotional tenure.

Albazi has been victorious in 17 of his 18 professional fights. He last appeared at U…

#BellatorLondon Fight Card Update

Next week’s Bellator Champion Series: London main event rematch featuring Johnny Eblen (15-0) vs. Fabian Edwards (13-3) Middleweight World Title fight has been rescheduled. A new fight date will be announced in the coming days. The September… pic.twitter.com/sTe2Yzf2S2

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) September 3, 2024

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The middleweight championship rematch between Johnny Eblen and Fabian Edwards will not take place at Bellator Champions Series London as originally scheduled.

The promotion announced on Tuesday that the bout will be rebooked for a future event, with an announcement to be made in the coming days. As for Bellator London, a women’s featherweight tilt pitting Sara Collins against Leah McCourt has been elevated to the evening’s headliner. A reason for the postponement was not given.

Bellator Champions Series London takes place on Sept. 14 at OVO Arena in London and airs i…

A flyweight clash between Matt Schnell and Alessandro Costa scheduled for UFC Fight Night 242 on Saturday has been scrapped.

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Schnell initially announced the news via YouTube, citing an apparent shoulder injury suffered by his opponent, and it was later confirmed by MMAFighting.com. However, Schnell will remain on the card against replacement opponent Cody Durden. UFC Fight Night 242 takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and is headlined by a welterweight showdown pitting Gilbert Burns against Sean Brady.

Just signed a new 4 fight deal with the @UFC! See you in Vegas this weekend!Packing my bags now, no cornerman. Just my wife and I. Fuck it, this is what I was born to do. 🙏🇺🇸📞🩸

— Cody Durden (@Cody_Durden) September 3, 2024

Schnell has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 238 on March 2, when he suffered a second-round KO loss to eventual flyweight title challenger Stev…

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Belal Muhammad would love to fight Sean Strickland, but he doesn’t think much of the former middleweight champion as an opponent.

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Muhammad defeated Leon Edwards via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 304 this past July to win welterweight gold. “Remember the Name” has since been discussing a future move up to middleweight, albeit after he defends his title a few times.

Strickland, who has been beefing with Muhammad over his views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, stands out as a potential opponent should that move happen.

Sean Strickland GOES OFF on Belal Muhammad 😳

"[Belal] is such a f***ing little b*tch bro... listen dude, go to f***ing Palestine, go f***ing fight for your f***ing country.

Get the f*** out of here you f***ing can."

🎥 YT / @jonbernardk #UFC302 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/p7JOFIjOV8

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 31, 2024

Muhammad recently reiter…

👀💉Aljamain Sterling accuses Movsar Evloev of taking performance enhancing drugs ahead of their fight at #UFC307:

"From what I've heard through the grapevine, he's not a clean athlete...people can say whatever, you have no proof, I'm like dude same thing people were saying… pic.twitter.com/ssqgAXfp64

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 2, 2024 Aljamain Sterling claims to have heard some potentially damning rumors about upcoming opponent Movsar Evloev.

Sterling is scheduled to fight the undefeated Russian at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The former bantamweight champ recently hurled serious allegations of PED use against Evloev, who strongly denied them while issuing a stern warning.

Don’t be scared boy, I’ll make it quick. You won’t feel a thing. https://t.co/4rMa3K1l9r

— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) August 23, 2024

You can talk now, but you’ll be …

Alexa Grasso has developed a weird chemistry with longtime foe Valentina Shevchenko ahead of their upcoming fight.

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Grasso will look to defend the women’s flyweight title in a trilogy title fight against Shevchenko in the co-main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. In addition to their history inside the Octagon, Grasso and Shevchenko are also coming off their stints as rival coaches on Season 32 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

Having shared the set on “TUF 32,” Grasso revealed that she inevitably ended up spending a lot of time with Shevchenko. With less than two weeks to go before they trade leather, the champ claims her relationship with Shevchenko is “really, really weird.” However, Grasso also knows that all that will be left aside on fight night as they put their bodies on the line for UFC gold. Proud to be a part of the first women’s trilogy in UFC history, Grasso promises another barnburner at UFC 306.

“We’ve been so ma…

⚡️🤼‍♂️Robert Whittaker called Gilbert Burns one of the greatest MMA grapplers and gave his prediction on his fight with Sean Bready.

"Gilbert Burns is one of the best grapplers in the history of MMA. He's a phenomenal grappler but in terms of MMA grappling,I think he's one of the… pic.twitter.com/ohmdQ2bM0e

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 2, 2024

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Robert Whittaker recently revealed his pick for the upcoming UFC Fight Night headliner between Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady.

Burns takes on Brady in the main event at UFC Fight Night 242 at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Coming off a two-fight slump, Burns is an underdog going into the bout against Brady.

However, Whittaker had high praise for Burns while analyzing his upcoming fight. According to “Bobby Knuckles,” the Brazilian is one of the greatest MMA grapplers the sport has ever seen. Whittaker noted that Burns injured his shoulder in the first round o…

Dana White's Contender Series graduates will meet in a bantamweight bout at UFC 308.

Farid Basharat (12-0) has been booked to take on Victor Hugo Silva (25-4) at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The matchup was first reported by Ag.Fight. Both fighters have since confirmed the bout on social media.

Basharat earned his UFC contract with a unanimous decision win over Allan Begosso on the Contender Series in 2022. The undefeated Englishman has since mounted a three-fight winning streak in the UFC, which includes a submission over Kleydson Rodrigues. In his most recent outing, Basharat scored a unanimous decision win over French prospect Taylor Lapilus this past January. “Ferocious” was briefly booked to replace Said Nurmagomedov against Montel Jackson at UFC Saudi Arabia in June before withdrawing due to unknown reasons.

A veteran on the regional circuit, Hugo rode a 12-fight winning streak into the Contender Series, where he submitted Ed…

A matchup of intriguing bantamweight talents has been added to UFC 309.

Jonathan Martinez (19-5) is set to trade leather against Marcus McGhee (9-1) at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The matchup was first announced by Iridium Sports Agency, which represents both fighters.

The 30-year-old Martinez has racked up a 10-4 record thus far during his UFC career. “Dragon” has bested the likes of Adrian Yanez, Said Nurmagomedov, Cub Swanson and Vince Morales while being finished only once in his entire career — by Davey Grant in 2021. Martinez comes off a unanimous decision loss against Jose Aldo at UFC 301 in May that saw a six-fight winning streak snapped.

Meanwhile, McGhee has scored highlight-reel finishes in all three of his UFC outings so far, earning $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses on every occasion. “The Maniac,” who hasn’t gone the distance in his entire career, is coming off a third-round stoppage of Gaston Bolanos at …

Azamat Murzakanov will look to keep his undefeated record intact when he locks horns with Nikita Krylov at UFC 309.

Match TV was first to report the light heavyweight pairing. UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The event is expected to feature a heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic, but that fight has not been confirmed by the UFC.

Murzakanov has been victorious in his first 14 professional outings, a run that includes four triumphs in the Octagon. The 35-year-old known as “The Professional” is coming off a second-round knockout of Alonzo Menifield at UFC on ABC 7 on Aug. 3. He also owns wins over Dustin Jacoby, Devin Clark and Tafon Nchukwi during his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Krylov, who has won his last three UFC appearances, will return to action for the first time since March 2023. During his current winning streak, the 32-year-old Ukraine native has earned victories agai…

Sharabutdin Magomedov, more commonly known as “Shara Bullet,” will square off against Armen Petrosyan in a middleweight bout at UFC 308.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced the booking on Monday. UFC 308 takes place on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is headlined by a featherweight championship clash pitting Ilia Topuria against Max Holloway. A light heavyweight clash between Ibo Aslan and Raffael Cerqueira was also confirmed for the event.

Magomedov has won three straight contests to begin his Octagon tenure. Most recently, the 30-year-old Dagestani outpointed Michal Oleksiejczuk at UFC on ABC 7 to improve his overall professional mark to 14-0.

After earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series in 2021, Petrosyan has gone 3-2 thus far during his promotional tenure. In his last outing, the 33-year-old Armenian had a two-bout winning streak snapped when he suffered a first-round submission defeat against Rodolfo Vieira at UFC Fig…

It’s all systems go for Week 4 of Dana White’s Contender Series.

All 10 athletes slated to compete hit their contracted marks without issue at Monday’s weigh-ins. That continues a positive trend for the 2024 iteration of the Contender Series, which has yet to see a mishap on the scales in its first four weeks.

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The Contender Series takes place on Tuesday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas an airs on ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The evening’s featured bout is a welterweight contest pitting Igor Cavalcanti (169.5) against Seok Hyun Ko (170).

Brazil’s Cacari has kicked off his professional tenure with nine straight triumphs. The Inside Fighters League 170-pound champion has finished all his victories inside of a round — seven via KO/TKO and two by way of submission.

A native of Busan, South Korea, Ko will take a three-bout finishing streak into the matchup with Cacari. The 28-year-old is coming off a 48-second KO win against Alwin Kincai under the A…

Jessica Andrade claims Joanna Jedrzejczyk is ready to come out of retirement to rematch her with a potential women’s BMF title on the line.

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Andrade takes on surging Brazilian Natalia Silva in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night 242 at the Apex in Las Vegas on Sept. 7. “Bate Estaca” holds records for the most wins and finishes for any female fighter in UFC history. While she wants a flyweight title shot with a potential win over Silva, Andrade also proposes creating a BMF title for the women’s divisions.

Andrade also claims that she has been in conversation with former foe Jedrzejczyk, who has allegedly agreed to come out of retirement for a potential rematch with the BMF title on the line.

“I’ve been talking to Joanna and she said she’d come back,” Andrade told MMAFighting.com. “If it’s for this [BMF] belt, she would come back. I think that would be a good fight. Joanna, or maybe Angela Hill, who never walks away from a fight and is always t…

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Merab Dvalishvili coach John Wood believes Sean O'Malley will mentally break faster than he will physically.

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Dvalishvili gets his long-awaited bantamweight title shot against O’Malley in the main event at UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. While Dvalishvili has previously vowed to knock O’Malley out, Wood has a more realistic prediction for the fight. The Syndicate MMA head coach believes Dvalishvili will take over after the second stanza, applying his signature pressure to eventually rope in a unanimous decision win. Wood also believes that getting to “Sugar” mentally will be easier than breaking him physically.

“A smart man’s bet? I would say five-round unanimous decision Merab,” Wood recently told Red Corner MMA. “I think we take control after the second and it’s all gas with Merab, but it’s gonna be technical gas. And I think we put the kind of pressure on Sean that he just can’t deal with. Not that he can’t deal …

Two new bouts have been added to the UFC Fight Night 245 lineup.

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Brady Hiestand (8-2) will take on Jake Hadley (11-3) in a bantamweight clash on the Oct. 19 card. The matchup was announced by the Iridium Sports Agency.

Hiestand has racked up three straight wins — with finishes in his last two bouts — after dropping a split decision against Ricky Turcios in his UFC debut in 2021. Coming off a third-round submission win over Garrett Armfield from this past June, this will the first time “Bam Bam” fights more than once a year in the UFC.

Meanwhile, having started his career at flyweight, Hadley has seemingly found a new home at bantamweight after his last outing. A Contender Series graduate, the Englishman went 2-3 at flyweight to start his UFC journey. Hadley moved up a weight class for a short notice matchup against Irish prospect Caolan Loughran at UFC 304 in Manchester, England, this past July after Ramon Taveras pulled out. An underdog goi…

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Alexandre Pantoja seemingly has his eyes on Tatsuro Taira.

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Pantoja is coming off a successful title defense against Steve Erceg at UFC 301 in Brazil this past May. Erceg’s title shot came partly due to a lack of worthy opponents available for the Brazilian champ.

Pantoja already owns a pair of victories over Brandon Moreno and Brandon Royval and with Amir Albazi recovering from neck surgery, Pantoja admits he still doesn’t have a clear challenger for the title. However, he is keen on defending his strap by the end of the year, regardless of the opponent.

“I don’t have like a real opponent right now,” Pantoja recently said on UFC Unfiltered. “I don’t know what’s happening. But I want [to fight] by the end of the year. Doesn’t matter who, I’m gonna be ready.”

While he might not have a clear opponent in mind, Pantoja is seemingly keeping an eye on Tatsuro Taira, who takes on Royval in a five-round UFC Fight Night headline…

The matchup we've all been waiting for 👀

How excited are you for the #UFC308 co-main event? pic.twitter.com/BqAXk2oAsJ

— UFC (@ufc) September 1, 2024

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The original UFC 308 co-main event between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev is seemingly still in place, although an apparent mistake on the promotion’s social media channels briefly made it seem as though the fight was in jeopardy.

Whittaker and Chimaev were originally scheduled to fight in the main event at UFC on ABC 6 this past June before “Borz” pulled out due to a severe illness. Whittaker went on score a first-round knockout over Ikram Aliskerov, who replaced Chimaev on short notice. The highly anticipated matchup between Whittaker and Chimaev was rescheduled for a five-round co-main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

However, the matchup was briefly cast into doubt by the promotion on Sunday. The UFC tweeted that Ciryl Gane vs…

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It seems likely that Alexander Volkanovski won’t fight again before the end of the year.

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The 35-year-old Australian is confident that he will be next in line to face the winner of the featherweight championship clash between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway that is slated for UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 26. Volkanovski hasn’t competed since relinquishing the 145-pound strap in a second-round knockout loss to Topuria at UFC 298 on Feb. 17. Volkanovski had considered taking a bout at lightweight but appears to have ultimately decided against that option.

“That’s exactly what’s happening. So I can wait or if I don’t want to wait, I can do something else. Or just wait, and the UFC has made that clear. Obviously, that’s probably what I’m going to do,” Volkanovski recently told Sky Sports New Zealand.

“I could have maybe done a lightweight fight, I think there’s a lot of exciting fights there, but the UFC aren’t big fans of floating. …

A women’s flyweight clash pitting Veronica Hardy against Eduarda Moura has been added to the UFC 309 lineup.

Ag.Fight was first to report the booking. UFC 309 takes place on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. A headliner has not been officially announced for the event, but it is expected that Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic will top the card.

After beginning her promotional tenure with three consecutive defeats, the 28-year-old Hardy has been victorious in four of her last five Octagon appearances. Most recently, Hardy outpointed J.J. Aldrich at UFC on ESPN 56 on May 11.

Moura, meanwhile, earned a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2023. The Brazilian then scored a second-round TKO of Montserrat Ruiz in her Octagon debut before suffering her first defeat in 11 professional outings via split decision against Denise Gomes at UFC on ESPN 57 this past June.

A change in priorities influenced Carla Esparza’s decision to retire after UFC 307.

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Esparza will be returning from pregnancy and childbirth for a rematch against Tecia Pennington at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. While announcing her return fight, “Cookie Monster” also r revealed that it’ll be the last one of her career.

More recently, Esparza elaborated on her retirement decision, citing a variety of factors. Esparza noted that the unforgiving sport has often seen the best of the best take a steep fall from grace toward the end of their careers, like B.J. Penn, Anderson Silva or Tony Ferguson. While Esparza hasn’t reached a point where she is desperately hanging on to the roster, she just isn’t able to make the kind of commitment she used to after the birth of her child. And not being “all-in” feels like doing an injustice to the sport for the former two-time UFC strawweight champion.

“We’ve seen it time and time again, the sport…

⚡️🇵🇸Belal Muhammad told a story how he started in MMA.

I saw my high school teacher fighting in Strikeforce on Showtime. I sent him a message, and it turned out the gym was near my mom's house. I linked up with him and started training. I just fell in love with the sport...

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I… pic.twitter.com/xPu1vTvgkI — Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 31, 2024

Belal Muhammad probably wouldn’t have ventured into mixed martial arts if not for his high school wrestling coach.

Growing up in Chicago, Muhammad went to Bogan High School, where he tried his hand at wrestling for two years. Muhammad then joined the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign to study law and had no plans of dabbling in sports.

However, he was intrigued to see his high school wrestling coach competing in MMA at Strikeforce, which was acquired by the UFC in 2011. Muhammad reached out to his teacher and found out that the gym the teacher trained…